Structural Transitions in Dense Networks

We introduce an evolving network model in which a new node attaches to a randomly selected target node and also to each of its neighbors with probability $p$. The resulting network is sparse for $p<\frac{1}{2}$ and dense (average degree increasing with number of nodes $N$) for $p\ge \frac{1}{2}$. In the dense regime, individual networks realizations built by this copying mechanism are disparate and not self-averaging. Further, there is an infinite sequence of structural anomalies at $p=\frac{2}{3}$, $\frac{3}{4}$, $\frac{4}{5}$, etc., where the dependences on $N$ of the number of triangles (3-cliques), 4-cliques, undergo phase transitions. When linking to second neighbors of the target can occur, the probability that the resulting graph is complete—where all nodes are connected—is non-zero as $N\to \mathrm{\infty }$.